Notable & Quotable

Updated May 5, 1998 12:01 a.m. ET

James Surowiecki in Slate:

[I]t's easy to dismiss the 1980s vogue for Japanese strategy and techniques only because so many of those techniques have become part of the fabric of everyday life at many, perhaps most, U.S. industrial companies. The cords that assembly line workers can pull to stop the line are now ubiquitous, as are Japanese quality control standards. Continuous improvement, which compels workers to look for ways to make their jobs more efficient, is de rigueur at companies ranging from Polaroid to GM. And...